This invention relates generally to amplifiers, and, more specifically, relates to charge amplifiers that can be implemented in thin film and are useful for imaging systems such as digital breast tomosynthesis with reduced X-ray exposure.
Abbreviations that may be found in the specification and/or the drawing figures are defined below, after the main part of the detailed description section.
Breast cancer is responsible for over 40,000 deaths in the U.S. annually and there are currently over 3 million U.S. women living with breast cancer diagnosis. Regular screening can reduce mortality by nearly 50 percent. In order to reduce the adverse effects of X-ray exposure, it is pertinent to minimize the X-ray exposure time during screening. With current digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) systems, the average exposure dose received during a single screening is equal to exposure from natural sources in a span of approximately two weeks. While such exposure doses are considered generally safe for the majority of patients, or at least have benefits far outweighing the potential harms, the X-ray imaging of thick and high density breasts remains particularly challenging within safe exposure levels, often leading to under-detection, false positive results, unnecessary biopsies and other invasive procedures. Unfortunately, patients with higher density breasts are also more likely to develop breast cancer. Over 10 percent of U.S. women are categorized as having extremely high breast density.